Villa Maria's playoff run ends in quarterfinals

Saturday

OIL CITY — The North Catholic girls basketball team had a nearly identical style of play as Villa Maria on Saturday.

The Trojans prepared for everything the Victors ran, they were up in the face of shooters and didn't give much ground on defense.

North Catholic's size and length, however, separated the two powerhouse teams in the end.

The Trojans knocked down seven 3-pointers and held Villa to its third-lowest point total of the season in a 61-41 PIAA Class 4A quarterfinal win at Oil City High School.

“They are a very talented team, and I think they knocked down five or six 3-pointers in the first half,” said Villa coach Doug Chuzie. “They shoot a very high percentage, and when we got behind it put us in a hole. I think we had open looks and got into the lane, but it's just one of those days that they were on fire and made shots and we happened not to.”

North Catholic (25-3) moves on to the PIAA semifinals Tuesday against Mifflinburg out of District 4, while Villa Maria ends the season 22-4.

The Trojans put together a big first quarter, including a 10-2 run to start the game. North Catholic had five different players score in the first quarter as each time Villa Maria shut down one player, another would find an open shot.

Emma Pospisil and Tess Myers each knocked down two 3-pointers in the first half as the Trojans built a 32-15 lead. Myers finished with 25 points, including 12 in the first half and nine in the third quarter, while Pospisil had all eight of her points in the first half.

The Victors struggled to get their offense going as each miss turned into a defensive rebound by the tall Trojans, including 6-foot 2-inch Brown recruit Dani Short.

North Catholic's length also came into play as passing lanes were closed and open shots were hard to come by.

“We have a great team, but we fell short (Saturday),” said Villa standout senior guard Addy Cross, a Holy Cross recruit. “They have a great team that shut us down. We wanted to fight back, and we tried our best.”

North Catholic built a lead of more than 20 points in the fourth quarter before both teams started subbing out their starters. Chuzie subbed out his starters one by one, leaving Cross for last as she walked off the court to a standing ovation.

“Addisyn Cross has probably made more strides and improvement than any previous player at Villa Maria,” Chuzie said. “We lost her to a knee injury freshman year, and she made incredible progress over the past three years. To lead this team to an Elite Eight is amazing. It's just an emotional day. She has been a big part of this program for years, and as a coach, it's just over. Her parents get to see her at the breakfast table or when she comes home from school, but to not coach her again, it's a sad day.”